LS polls: BJP releases first list of candidates; 34 Union ministers, fresh faces in fray
The party has tried to give representation to young leaders, as 25% of tickets were allotted to those under 50 years old.
Aiming to expand its social and electoral base across the country in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the ruling BJP has asked 34 Union ministers and two former chief ministers to fight the electoral battle. On Saturday (March 2), announcing the names of candidates from the first list, BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde said, “The party leadership has decided that 34 Union ministers and two former chief ministers will contest Lok Sabha elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will contest from Varanasi, while Union Home Minister Amit Shah will contest from Gandhinagar in Gujarat. Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will contest polls from Lucknow and Union minister Smriti Irani has been fielded again from Amethi constituency.”
Among the Union ministers who have been asked to contest polls are Bhupendra Yadav from Alwar, Arjun Ram Meghwal from Bikaner, Jyotiraditya Scindia from Guna, Rajeev Chandrashekhar from Thiruvananthapuram and V Muraleedharan from Attingal in Kerala.
Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will be contesting from Vidisha constituency, while former Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb has been fielded from Tripura West segment.
Rajya Sabha to Lok Sabha
Taking the first step towards introducing some of the prominent Union ministers to the rough and tumble of electoral politics, the BJP announced that Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will contest from Porbandar in Gujarat. Similarly, Union ministers Rajeev Chandrashekhar and V Muraleedharan have been fielded from Kerala.
The BJP leadership has also asked Saroj Pandey, national vice-president, to contest Lok Sabha polls from Korba constituency in Chhattisgarh.
Apart from the names of the Union ministers that have been announced by the BJP on Saturday, speculations are rife that the 2024 Lok Sabha polls will also witness the debut of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Narayan Rane.
Eyeing 400 seats
“We are on a mission to expand geographically. We want the BJP to grow in every state. We are also working to expand the National Democratic Alliance (NDA),” said Tawde.
Senior BJP leaders revealed that at least 9 Union ministers, who are currently members of Rajya Sabha, could be asked to contest Lok Sabha polls this time. Apart from this, at least 12 senior leaders, including vice-presidents, national general secretaries and national spokespersons may also be asked to take a plunge in electoral politics.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given us a target of 370 seats for the BJP and more than 400 seats for the NDA. We are confident that the people of the country will give us a bigger mandate this time,” Tawde added.
Caste arithmetic
Realising that the INDIA alliance will target them on the crucial issue of caste census, the BJP has made an effort to ensure representation to all sections of society.
The party announced 57 candidates from the OBC community, which is nearly 30% of the total candidates announced on Saturday. Similarly, 27 tickets were allotted to Scheduled Caste (SCs) and 18 to Scheduled Tribe (STs). To consolidate its position among female voters, BJP has given tickets to 28 women.
The party has also tried to give representation to young leaders, as 25% of tickets were allotted to those under 50 years old.
Fresh faces
The BJP has fielded Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of former Union minister Sushma Swaraj, from New Delhi constituency. Similarly, Jyoti Mirdha, who belongs to a prominent political family in Rajasthan, has been asked to contest from the Nagaur constituency.
Annoyed by some of the statements made by Bhopal MP Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, the BJP has decided to drop her and asked Alok Sharma to contest from Bhopal. The move is interesting as some RSS members have backed Thakur from Bhopal seat.
The list of candidates also includes the name of senior Congress leader AK Antony’s son Anil Antony who joined the BJP sometime back.
